Snapdragon Stadium – construction description

New football (& soccer) stadium of San Diego State University is expected to be built in Mission Valley, on the site of existing Qualcomm Stadium. While the new stadium would be built just west of the old one, Qualcomm is to be demolished in order to make way for surrounding developments. These include 4,500 housing units, 90,000 square feet of commercial space and a 450-room hotel.

The stadium's initial capacity was set at 35,000, which would be sufficient for the demand of SDSU Aztecs football team. It's also enough to house a potential San Diego MLS team.

With very traditional layout, the stadium's main grandstand is located in the west, offering a series of spacious terraces, only partly covered. This is where bulk of the building's hospitality offer will be housed, however an interesting addition is planned behind the south goal, with cascading decks.

Initial layout of the auditorium leaves open the prospect of adding roof over the west and east stands. It also enables expansion to the NFL-desired 65,000 seats, should there be actual need for it.

First cost estimate suggested a price tag of $150 million but already upon the presentation of initial renders it was already changed to a more realistic $250 million. Once the project got going, the budget grew to $310 million.